how Yun-Fat—known to fans worldwide for his gritty noir roles in John Woo films and for his martial-arts prowess in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon—forges an unlikely partnership with American Pie star Seann William Scott in Bulletproof Monk, a supernatural martial-arts movie based on an obscure 1990s comic series. Chow plays the Monk With No Name, an ageless Tibetan entrusted with the protection of a powerful scroll. Scott plays a feisty street kid named Kar who becomes the Monk's unruly protg.
Pearl Harbor actress Jaime (nee James) King completes the odd triad as Bad Girl, a gang moll with mad kung-fu skills of her own. Together, the trio contend with a band of ruthless thugs led by an obsessive Nazi.
Bulletproof marks Chow's return to American cinema, after roles in The Replacement Killers and The Corruptor. With this film, Scott tries to break from his previous parts as a snarky college kid. And King, known for roles as a bubbly blonde, gets a makeover as the brunette and broody Bad Girl. Scott and King took a moment recently to speak with Science Fiction Weekly about Bulletproof Monk. Chow's comments are taken from the transcript of a studio interview. Bulletproof Monk opens April 16.
Chow Yun-Fat, you've had experience with wire work before. Is this any different?
Chow: Depends on how the director treats the fighting sequence. Actually, we can do it in the computer. But if he uses the real actor, put on the wire, it looks more real than when you use the CGI. So if we have a lot of time to practice the scene, get it very organized and make it look good, we have a strong impact on the audience. They see the real actor doing all the martial-art things in front of the camera.
Plus, [fight consultant] Stephen [Tung] and [director] Paul [Hunter] have a lot of new ideas. Paul is from commercials and knows how to make the images very rich in front of the camera, and I hope he can treat the martial-art movie in a certain different level, rather than what you saw before, like in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I really want to put my character, Seann's character, Jaime and the whole movie on a new level.
Do you enjoy the physical part of this role?
Chow: Not really. But when you have the wire on, and they fly you in the air, it can be a lot of fun. It depends on the difficulty of the wire work. For me, I'm not fascinated about all the wire works or martial-art things. I'm more dedicated to the drama and the romance. I'd rather have a girl than a wire or two guns, but I'm glad that we have a lot of young actors in this movie. They give the movie a lot of energy and also a lot of inspiration for the new generation. I am already a veteran in this industry, more than 30 years, so more or less we need some new faces. They taught me a lot about how to be a young actor. I'm still young in Hollywood, you know.
What kind of things are you talking about?
Chow: Seann and Jaime have different ideas how to create a role, which is very interesting. They make the character look good in their certain way, in ways I never thought about it. Plus this movie is West and East, two cultures planted together. I'm still learning a lot of new things, and I really want to explore the culture. They taught me a lot about the American language, about the people living in the Midwest or on the East Coast and West Coast.
What is going on with the Monk? He has a mission.
Chow: That's maybe going too far. It's only a comic book, OK? This character is a lot of fun. You have acting, a little bit of comedy and a good relationship with Seann's character, the Monk and Seann. It's very unusual to have drama, friendship, a mission, more or less, in a movie with a very important message about Buddhism. In the very beginning scene, my master teaches me how to understand the universe and philosophy. My character was undisciplined, so later on in modern day, I meet Seann, and he gets the same lessons that I got when I was young. I have the responsibility to put him on the good track. So more or less, Seann and the master monk are teacher and student and buddy and friend. It's very complex.
Talk about King's character. It's an unlikely combination.
Chow: When I saw the dailies of a bunch of young people together, I think I'm out of the movie. This Asian guy full of Asian culture. How can it blend into the Western culture, blend in with the young people together? But they actually have a lot of interesting chemistry with the Monk. Very interesting.
When you first read the script, what was it that made you say, "I want to be the Bulletproof Monk?"
Chow: I was 100 percent for this movie, because my wife, Jasmine, controls every single character I play. She's in charge of planning my projects. I just wait for the order. She says, "Now the movie called Bulletproof Monk, you have to do it." I wasn't concerned about the character. I was concerned with my wife. It's an order.
Talk about Seann. This is a very serious role for him.
Chow: That's why he has a lot of concern about his character, about the treatment of the lines. He always had a lot of discussions with me about how to treat the scene. And Paul is a very good director. He gave us a lot of room to create our character. I think Seann is very talented, and I think he's one of the up-and-coming stars in America. He has a lot of potential and can be a good actor and also a very popular star.
Producers Terence Chang and John Woo created this movie as a vehicle for you?
Chow: [Chang] had this idea for four or five years already. He waited for so long to create this project, because he needed to look for a studio that could support his group of people and make our dreams come true. I've worked with John and Terence for many, many years, through many, many movies. I appreciate that he gave me a lot of opportunity with his company and his colleagues. This is a long relationship with them, you know, melodrama, comedy, action. When he told me he had created some new project for me, I was so glad to do it because we've known each other for so long.
Seann William Scott, how much training did you have to do?
Scott: I actually trained everybody else [laughs]. I trained Yun-Fat. ... No, man, I had to train a lot. I've always been pretty athletic, but there's so many fights in this movie. ... Coming from American Pie and Road Trip ... I need to make sure that this is different.
I don't want the movie to suffer because [the audience] can't buy me as this character. So right off the bat I was, like, I have to change my look. But we didn't have six months to train, and there's a lot of fights. ... There was probably like six hours a day. A lot of it was just stretching. I had a lot of core strength, so the wire stuff actually came kind of easy to me, because actually, we first started doing gymnastics. ...
Then we got up to Toronto, we started working on the choreography. We worked with a lot of Bruce Lee's guys. Just a great team. ... I had to keep training while we were shooting, because there was so much to learn. ... And I was like, I want to do every single stunt, because I can. ... There's The Matrix out and Crouching Tiger, and you're seeing these guys do it. It's like, we can't do any less, otherwise it's going to be embarrassing. So I just did the best I could. I still have some bruises.
You wrenched your back at one point?
Scott: Yeah. We're doing a scene where I was getting dragged along the rooftop, which was fun. It really didn't feel like it hurt. I had done a lot more physical things. And I was like, this is cool. It's just like Indiana Jones or something. But the next day it wasn't so cool, man, because I couldn't really move my back. ...
[In one scene,] we're having like a weird handshake challenge thing. ... The first take, ... I was like, "Uh!" And, like, I bend down, and I had this spasm. I thought I was dying. Yun-Fat basically picks me up, puts me over his shoulder, and I'm like, "What's happening here?" And he's like basically walking to my trailer. I was so in shock. I was like, "He's a hero." ... And he's like, "Take off your shirt." I'm like, "Whoa. Whoa. This ain't that kind of a movie, man. My back's OK." He's like, "Take it off." I'm like, "OK." I take off the shirt, and he starts working on my back, because I was in like the worst pain I'd ever been in. I couldn't even breathe. And I started to breathe. And I was like, "Whoa."
He just basically stopped set, didn't say anything to anybody, was so concerned about me. He's such a great guy. And then called a therapist to work on my back. He's like, "You're stupid. You do too many stunts. You're stupid. I told you." I'm like, "That's because you're Chow Yun-Fat. You've done a few action movies. I'm a comedy guy. I can do this. I'm physical." Since then I haven't been able to walk the same. No, I was fine. That was the only time I got hurt.
You identified with Kar?
Scott: I'm probably much more of an introvert than people know, and when I moved out to L.A., it was really just on a feeling. I just thought this was what I should be doing. I had no experience at all. And for like three years I was auditioning for things. I thought that I was getting better. But I always had this feeling of, like, never knowing if that opportunity was going to come my way for me to do something big. And I thought that's what this character's like. This character had a big heart. I mean, I did break it down in a lot of other ways, but I thought, "He's looking for a chance to do something good. He's just a good kid, and he's training." ... I love Harrison Ford. I thought he always embodied that hero that we could identify with that had a great wit and charm to him, but he wasn't invincible. He was always getting his butt kicked. But he'd get back on his feet.
You had to come back six months after wrapping to shoot the final fight scene. Could you do the kung fu again?
Scott: I was better. The thing is, is like there was so much work to do that our legs never had time to recover. Literally, I was basically working my legs every day for four months. But what's great is I did another action movie after that with The Rock, and I kept training with my stunt guy, because I was like, I want to keep this up. ... And it worked, because then I was like, when we got the call that people responded to the movie and they wanted to add on to the fights that they already had, I was like, wait until they see me now, because I'm better.
Can you talk about working with Chow Yun-Fat?
Scott: I just didn't want to screw the movie up for him, because he's just so great. But he just made it really easy. He was like the godfather on the set. Like, he knew everybody's name. He just made sure everybody was having a good time. ... If you take one person away from the set, from the crew that we had, Yun-Fat made sure that they knew that that would be a different movie. He wanted everybody to know how important they were, and he was such a great guy. He just made it easy. He was like, "Remember, don't be so manic. What we're doing is we're making a movie. Just have fun." But I was always like, "You're Chow Yun-Fat, man. This is my first big opportunity. I have some pressure here. I've got to make sure I'm doing a good job." And he'd always just get mad at me for doing all the stunts. He was like, "You're going to kill yourself, kid." His wife would get mad at me. I'm like, "Stop it. I have to. I can." It was just that he was so good at the action and the martial arts. I was just learning it all.
What about working with Jaime?
Scott: She was so great. The thing is with Jaime, every once in a while you get to hang out with somebody that you just have such a great feeling about, and you feel like you're part of something special, and I think that she's going to be huge. I know she already is well on her way, but I knew that I was going to be lucky to have been in something that's going to be significant in her career. She's really great.
Did you set out to do an action movie, or did it just come your way?
Scott: Well, the comedy stuff kind of came my way. It was like so weird to me. And I actually love comedy. At first I was like, I don't want to be the funny guy. That's not why I came to L.A. But I appreciated it, and I realized that this is really just a blessing to be able to make people laugh. Everything now, I look back and I do really feel like I'm at the beginning of my career. I feel like every step that I've taken has been for a reason. And what was great is, being able to do those things and being able to feel comfortable to take a risk in an environment.
Doing weird stuff in American Pie 2 and Dude, Where's My Car? was great, because in an action movie, it's a lot more difficult. ... My agent and I did say over the summer, like, we need to find you your Mission: Impossible. Because, like, I know I can do it. ... And we found this script, and I was like, "This is the one." I mean, to work with Chow Yun-Fat would be great, and Paul Hunter. But I thought this was perfect for me, because it wasn't like I was going from American Pie 2 to Philadelphia, you know what I mean? I thought it was a nice transition.
Are you hoping for a sequel?
Scott: Yeah, because that means the first one did really well. Yeah, I would love to play the character again. .... I thought it set up a sequel very well.
Jaime King, had you done any martial-arts training before this movie?
King: No, I hadn't. I've always been really athletic, which really helped, because when I first started doing the training for Bulletproof Monk, it required so much strength that if I didn't have a base I don't really know what I would have done.
What kind of audition did you have to do?
King: I auditioned three times for the movie. Then I did like a physical strength test. ... I show up [and] there's like 10 Chinese guys, like this whole kung fu team. I'm like, "Oh, OK. So, yeah, what's up guys? What am I supposed to do?" They're like, "Stretch." And I'm like, "OK." So nobody's telling me anything. I sit down on the floor, and I just start stretching. And I stand up, and they start doing all these moves, and I had to watch the move and then do my best to mimic the move. And it was an interesting experience, because I was really nervous, because I didn't know what was going on. But that was the last thing. That was actually the day that I found out that I got the movie.
What kind of preparation did you do?
King: Seann and I trained together for, like, a month and a half before we actually went to Canada to do the movie for six months. We trained up to six to seven hours a day. It was so much fun. We got to jump on, like, trampolines, learn flips, learn karate, kung fu, Hong Kong street fighting. We learned so much different stuff. It was wild. And then when we got up there we trained pretty much every single day and on our days off. It was great.
Did you guys ever get hurt?
King: I broke my finger. But the funny thing is, I broke my finger not on set doing kung fu. I broke my finger when I fell down the stairs prior to going on set. ... You know the scene in the house where he and I are fighting each other? I had to do the scene with a broken finger. And we were actually filming the scene right on location next to a hospital. So we'd block a scene, I'd go get my X-ray, go back and shoot the scene, then go check out the X-ray, then go back and finish the scene. And I literally did the whole thing with a broken finger. So it was pretty hilarious.
How was it working with Chow Yun-Fat?
King: It was such a great experience. I really learned a lot from him. He's really efficient and really professional. And he knows how to come on set and keep everything really light and keep a sense of humor to everything. And he's really generous with everyone and was a really grateful person and didn't take himself too seriously. There was an ease to him that I really appreciated.
What about working with Mako, who has a small role as a theater owner?
King: It was fun. It was interesting to work with him on Pearl Harbor, and then to work with him on this. He's a really funny guy. It's just funny how things always come full circle.
Why did you go dark-haired for the movie?
King: I felt that it was appropriate for the character. I felt like with the hair this light that it was too light for her, because she's kind of mysterious and elusive, and you never really know where she's going or what she's doing. I felt like the dark hair added like a toughness to my face also, which was really important. It's amazing how challenging it is to pull off being that strong and tough on screen. There's really a lot of work that you have to put into it. And I felt like every bit really helped. And the dark hair kind of put me more in the mood for it, made me feel a little bit tougher.
What was your hardest day on the set?
King: My most challenging days were probably when I was doing the fight scene with Nina [Victoria Smurfit], because we filmed that scene for about a week, and it was like 14-, 15-hour days. And it's incredible the amount of focus and intensity that you have to hold to do fight scenes, because you literally have to do each piece like you've been in the middle of a fight. So it's an incredible amount of intensity and energy. It's kind of opposite than the kind of energy [I have]. I don't really have like a fighting kind of nature, so to hold on to that for that many hours and that many days, you get really into it. And she had accidentally knocked me in the eye with the baton, like literally, like impaled my eye with it. And I remember just being like on the ground. And she felt so bad about it, because you don't mean to do it. And God knows how many bruises I gave Seann, because it's like you get so into these fight scenes that you forget how much energy is behind it. I think that all the fighting for that long was really challenging.
How was working with Seann?
King: Oh, we had a blast. He's another one that was really easygoing. He's just a fun-loving good guy. And another great thing about Seann is that he's really supportive, and he's got a lot of enthusiasm for what he was doing. And you could see how important it was that he went in there and did a great job. And it was really fun to be with another person, because we wanted to do as much as we could on our own. It was really great to see the progression, because we started together from the very first day, from the screen test on, training. And so it'd be really neat to see how in the beginning how we weren't able to do something, and then to see each other learn and grow and share that together was really neat.
You had to speak Tibetan for this.
King: I like doing accents and I like learning as much as I can learn. I think that's what's great about being an actress is you get to learn so many different things like that, like learning a little bit of Tibetan here, learning a Southern accent there. It's just really fun kind of stuff. And the teacher that taught me was really interesting. He was this white Buddhist guy who was like a healer and kind of a hippie a little bit. ... And Tibetan is a really beautiful language also, and to learn a little bit about that.
Are they planning on a sequel?
King: You know, they have discussed it, because obviously the ending leaves an opening for that. But I think that right now we're just dealing with putting this film out and seeing how people respond to it and like it. I like the idea that there's a lot of things that you could expand on.
Why did you change your name from James King to Jaime King?
King: I didn't change it. I just wanted to be called by my real name again. James was a nickname that my parents gave me when I was younger, and I just felt like as I got older, I just felt like Jaime resonated with me more.
Was there a problem with people thinking you were a guy?
King: It was great when I'd come into a hotel, and they'd call me Mr. King. I'd be like [on the phone saying], "This is James." And they're like, "Jane?" "No, James." "Jane?" "James, like a boy." And I was always like having to go through that process with people.
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